


Innocents Corrupted

by TheCrazyFriend



Category: Life Is Strange (Video Game)
Genre: F/F, F/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-04-23
Updated: 2019-09-13
Packaged: 2020-01-24 15:28:12
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 4
Words: 3,352
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18574300
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheCrazyFriend/pseuds/TheCrazyFriend
Summary: Max goes to Blackwell Academy, but all is not well





	1. Welcome to Blackwell Academy

**Author's Note:**

> Hey!! Something a little different this time around....

_October 11, 2013_

_Hello me!!!_

_This is the brand new journal of Maxine ~~J~~ Caulfield, if you're not me put this back where you found it! Anyway, journal, you're going to be my companion through the next two years at Blackwell... I arrived at Blackwell Academy a few weeks ago and it's all been pretty hectic since I arrived with orientation, exploring, photography and classes, as well as a certain handsome man. This is the first chance I have gotten to write, cereal. Anyway, the rumor mill here at Blackwell has gotten completely out of control, this girl who apparently went missing at the end of last year made a sudden return today! Rachel Amber, a girl who is a year older than me went missing under mysterious circumstances sometime late last year. I've seen the missing person’s posters all around town ever since I arrived here from Seattle (someone must've spent a small fortune putting those up...) Rachel is the popular girl and everyone seems to know and like her (Save Victoria, of course, no surprises there...) but the only person she seems to have a genuine relationship with is the hot blue haired girl who was pushing her wheelchair. No idea why she was in that thing, she doesn’t even seem to remember it herself if the conversation I overheard between the two and Principal Wells is to go by. That drunkard seemed to somewhat hate the punk girl, he was displeased that Rachel Amber's father had apparently strong-armed him into accepting the blue girl back at Blackwell, don't know why she was expelled, she seemed like a real sweetheart to me though she did ignore me when I smiled at her. As strong as the blue-haired girl looked, the Amber girl looked just as frail..._

Max looked up from where she had had her head buried in her journal, scribbling away in neat joined up handwriting, a knock at her door had disturbed her. “Max?” a quiet timid voice called through the door, the owner of the voice evidently didn't want to disturb Max if she were busy.  
“The door is unlocked, Katie” Max called out, inviting the other girl in without question, she would always have time for the kindest most gentle girl in Blackwell even if she had been busy writing in her journal  
“Hey, just thought I'd check in on my favorite dorm-mate” Kate began as Max closed her journal. She had written her last five words then closed it  
“I'm doing okay, Katie,” Max replied with a gentle smile  
“I saw you watching that blunette with some interest. Ms. Caulfield, do you have a crush?” Kate teased. Max had decided shortly after meeting her that Kate was full of surprises, she was a devout Christian but completely supportive of gay and lesbian couples, even of those who dared threaten the ‘sanctity of marriage’ by being in love with more than one person. She even teased those she felt comfortable around  
“Kate, no. First off, I may be from the gay capital of America but I'm completely straight...” Max corrected the Christian blonde  
“Uh huh”  
“And secondly, I'm in a committed relationship” Max revealed cautiously  
“Ooooh,” Kate couldn't help herself, she just had to know about it, the shy little hipster having the guts to ask a man out? Unheard of.  
“Sorry, Kate but we both have our commitments.” Max didn't want to discuss it with anyone yet, not even her family knew just _how_ committed the relationship had gotten  
“Well you know I'm here for you whenever you want to talk about it, right?” Kate offered  
“Yeah thanks, Kate” _I love you, Kate. You're so understanding_  
“Tea?” Kate offered  
“Yes please” Max smiled and settled down to wait

Kate retreated back to her room and while she was gone Max picked up her cell and speed dialed. “Hey” she whispered with an involuntary smile gracing her lips  
“Hey yourself” a man's voice replied charmingly  
“Just a quickie to let you know I miss you and to ask if we're still on for this evening”  
“Sure... I won't be back until nine though” the man replied, “I miss you too” he added quickly, having realized his mistake and before Max could comment on it  
“Ugh. Fine. I'll wait for the most handsome man in my life” Max grumbled, pouting and crossing her arms with a huff  
The man laughed quietly and smiled as involuntarily as Max had done. “so tonight, fifteen after?”  
“It’s a date, handsome” Max put her phone down as a knock on the door came

“Hey, Max. I'm not interrupting, am I?”  
“No, no not at all, Kate, that was... Someone”  
“Oho, does this special guy have a name?”  
“Yes”  
Kate waited a few moments but it quickly became apparent that Max wasn't ready to share that tidbit with her. “Sooo”  
“Tea” Max replied, dispelling the awkward air between the two best friends  
“Yes, tea” Kate rolled her eyes as she set about preparing the hot beverage

Max paused about five minutes into their tea session to answer a text from someone. “That was a friend, he’s going to put me in touch with a model this evening.”  
“Oh, the best of luck. It might be the big breakthrough that you need!” Kate was excited for her friend as she poured Max's second cup of tea

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please leave kudos if this is worth continuing


	2. Rachel

Max had been eager for the evening to come. She waited until nine before leaving the safety of her dorm. Hearing laughter from one of the rooms she poked her head through the open door to see who was laughing. “Hi!!” a melodious voice exclaimed joyously and a hand reached out, wrapped around her wrist and tugged her into the room, it was the girl in the wheelchair  
“Uh, hi” Max stammered back. “I didn't mean to interrupt, I just heard your laughter and was curious”  
“You're hella adorable” the blonde girl replied  
“You're Rachel Amber!!” Max had exclaimed quickly  
“Uh huh” Rachel nodded with a gentle smile  
“Nice to meet you” Max smiled at the thespian girl  
“Oh, aren't you adorkable!!” The blonde chuckled as Max made an embarrassed noise. “Surprised that Chloe hasn’t snapped you up for herself yet”  
“Chloe?” Max stared blankly  
“The blunette” Rachel replied fondly  
“Well...” Max stammered, blushing at Rachel's attempt to set her up with her friend. “I'm kinda already in a relationship, a serious one, and your blue friend didn't even notice me”  
“Oh... Cool, who's the lucky person?” Rachel was careful to use a gender-neutral term, barely even noticing that Max had said Chloe hadn't even noticed her though she felt a warmth spread through her body at Chloe only having eyes for Rachel  
“I... Don't want to say their name” Max whispered, embarrassed  
“Ooooh, some ethical issue then??” Rachel's eyes widened and she leaned in. “Do spill!!”  
“I... I uh can't” Max had mumbled. Rachel nodded after a few moments

“It’s okay, you can ask.” Rachel had seemingly sensed the question the brunette had wanted to ask in the awkward silence. “I can't remember any of it, not really. Maybe a few flashes here and there but I woke up in town where Chloe found me. She had been looking for me for six months, I hadn’t really noticed the time go past. What's your name?”  
“Max... Max Caulfield”  
“You really are adorkable”  
Max blushed a bright red, “n-not really”  
“I would agree with Chloe, you're cute”  
“Actually Chloe didn't pay any attention to me, she ignored me in class” Max felt slightly dispirited that neither girl had even noticed her  
“You were in our class? And don't take it personally, since she found me in the park she's been exceedingly clingy and cautious” Rachel smiled. “But she's cute like that”

_Yup that's right Rachel, it's nice that you're talking to me and everything but compared to Chloe... Or you, I'm exactly average. Nothing special_. Max realized she hadn't actually answered Rachel when she realized the taller blonde was watching her with curiosity, “y-yes. Photography with Mark uh... Mr. Jefferson”  
“You're on first name terms with the photography teacher?” Rachel had spotted a bit of gossip and was attempting to get the petite girl to loosen up enough to reply.  
“Yea, I met him in Seattle” Max attempted to reply vaguely  
“Max Caulfield, you say?” Rachel inquired  
“Uh huh?”  
“I'm Rachel, I'm your model”  
“You... You are?”  
“Mr. Jefferson mentioned you, he said you were... Were” the blonde looked away, “Sorry”  
“Rachel... What's wrong?”  
The blonde thespian shook her head and held up her hand, her breath quickening. “I-I'm fine”  
“No, you're not”  
“It's... It's just something about photographic flashes” Rachel replied shakily.


	3. Chapter 3

“Rachel?? Rachel!!” a hammering on the door disturbed the peace that had settled in the Prescott dorms  
“You're such a dork, Price” Rachel replied, she had hurried to stop her best friend and not so secret girlfriend from hammering on the door, managing to slowly walk to the door using the frame she had. She was very weak after her disappearance and required a frame to help her walk around her room, her wheelchair was too difficult to use around her comparatively tiny dorm room  
“Hella dork” Chloe quipped back  
“Of course”  
“Kate texted me, told me someone told her you had a minor panic attack?”  
“Oh for fuck’s sake. Max, the new girl and I were talking about photography since I’m to be her model, Jefferson put us in touch. I experienced _the thing_ again while talking to Max.”  
“The thing with camera flashes?”  
“Yea. It was barely there but Max texted Kate and she texted you”  
“I'm going to have to have a word with this Max”  
“Chloe, down girl. I'm okay, besides, she wasn't to know” Rachel thought Chloe was like an overprotective puppy, always yipping at the heels of those who got too close to those she cared about, adorable but not too dangerous.  
“Hmph” Chloe mumbled a few unintelligible swears while pouting like a child, she was _not_ an adorable puppy and if anyone hurt her Rach she'd probably prove it by ripping throats. “I might need to speak to James again”  
“What? Dig up Max's criminal history? Chloe, she's a freaking hipster”  
“That’s how they get ya”

Rachel shook her head in amusement. “Any further along trying to work out what the fuck happened those six months?” And with those words, she shattered the peaceful and enjoyable atmosphere they had been sharing  
“Nope. Zip. Nada.” The blunette was incredibly concerned, she hadn't been able to find anything about those six months, it was almost as if Rachel had vanished off the face of the earth and as she didn't remember a single thing, not really, neither girl had any idea what had happened. Not a single Blackwell student had seen her at all for those six months, besides the step-douche would have found her had she been anywhere to be found, he had quite the track record of being able to find cars and people evidenced by the photographs and logs he kept in his man cave, remnants from trying to find Rachel. Rachel's own limited recollections included partying at a Vortex Club party but nobody saw her leave and Rachel didn't remember doing so. Other than that she had a vague recollection of being led on the floor of a dark room, a garbled male voice and the flashing of a camera that had led to her intolerance of camera flashes and lightning. Chloe had even checked Rachel's bank account and also with James, Rachel's father to see about credit card usage but came up blank both times. Chloe had returned home visibly shaken after finding out that Rachel had literally no money on her for the entire few months she had been missing for at that point nor had she withdrawn any since before she vanished and Joyce had spent the afternoon soothing the punk, not that Chloe would ever admit that to anyone. The only witness was David and Chloe kinda grew to like him after he searched tirelessly for her best friend. She hadn't even heard anything from the police departments of any of the nearby towns nor from the LAPD who she had contacted within days of her vanishing just in case Rachel resurfaced in LA

“Oh, Chloe... I wish I could remember just so you weren't so anxious all the time” Rachel reached out and touched Chloe's shoulder  
“Well, at least it won't happen again, right?” Chloe had a slightly manic expression on her face, part of her had found it incredibly enjoyable to mess around with what she had considered to be her new toy, at least for an afternoon of testing  
“No, I guess not.” She glanced down at her left boot, remembering the little something extra her father had managed to get ahold of for her through his contacts, a tracking device that was potentially going to be rolled out to aid foster families to ensure their wards’ safety but of course there were concerns regarding using such technology with vulnerable minors so while it had been invented and produced it hadn’t yet been rolled out. In light of Rachel's disappearance Chloe and Rachel had installed the tracking module they received from James in her boot and Chloe had the receiver unit well concealed in her truck as well as a spare in the attic alongside her pirate costume she wore every Halloween when she went trick or treating with her dad or alone when she was older, she had made some friends at Blackwell and occasionally they would tag along with Rachel going with her every year since they were fifteen despite them both being nineteen. Chloe knew her mother rarely went up into the attic so it was the best place to hide the spare tracker. Chloe and Rachel had had a very fun afternoon once they had installed the tracker in Rachel's boot, testing its range and capabilities. They had found that the tracker worked at a large distance and short of taking her out of range of the cellular or WiFi networks, the tracker didn't fail and as an added feature an alarm could be set for if Rachel left a particular area. Chloe had a fair amount of fun debating with Rachel what areas would be 'off-limits’ and it was decided that only Arcadia Bay would be permitted, if Rachel left the boundaries of the town then Chloe would be alerted on her phone which would allow her to contact Rachel and make sure everything was okay or Rachel could trigger the distress beacon of the tracker and get help any time she needed it. Since they wouldn't be telling anyone about the tracker, keeping it a secret between themselves and James on the blonde thespian's father's insistence. James even realized he had lost the right to have a receiver for the tracker when he lied and betrayed his daughter regarding her mother. James hadn't liked Chloe in the beginning, having called her 'a broken girl from a broken home’ but when he saw how tirelessly Chloe had searched for and eventually brought his little girl home, after he had given up, he suddenly started acting a lot more friendly toward the blunette

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm pretty sure I've seen the idea of Rachel getting a tracking device in a previous fic I've read but I can't remember the name of it.  
> I'm not sure this chapter is one of my good ones, it feels a little forced maybe?


	4. I can't sleep

“That's perfect, Rachel!!” Max trilled happily, the little brunette was never happier than when she was behind a camera, able to catch the uniqueness of the world as she saw it. “Rachel, you’re a natural at this!” The blonde had been in Max's room for a little while with Chloe sat back at the back of the room out of the way of model and photographer. The blunette had insisted upon being there since she was the only one who could calm Rachel if she ended up getting herself worked up for some reason, furthermore James Amber had set down some rules for Rachel's own wellbeing. Those rules were for Rachel's safety and stated that Chloe was to be with her whenever someone was in her dorm and whenever Rachel had to leave the safety of her room which was no hardship for either girl since they both spent almost all their time together anyway with Rachel staying at Chloe's or vice versa almost every night. While Rachel still couldn't recall what had happened to her those missing six months they were all reassured that Chloe and Rachel would keep each other safe and ensure that neither girl ever went missing again. “You're a natural, Mark... Uh, _Mr. Jefferson_ was correct about that” Max corrected herself quickly  
“You know him as Mark, Maxine?” Rachel had picked up on Max's quick correction and, as ever, was almost flawless at picking up details that others wanted to keep hidden  
“Uh, yea...” Max had blushed a deep red at her slip-up. “He's an old family friend, Rachel,” Max exclaimed quickly  
“Oh, cool” Rachel glanced at Chloe who blinked a couple times. The two girls had formed their own code and could communicate nonverbally across a classroom, a skill they had quickly discovered had a multitude of other uses including talking to each other about other people even when they were right there  
Chloe smiled a faint smile at Max then went back to playing some game on her phone while Max directed Rachel. _Poor girl_ , Chloe thought, _she's crushing super hard on that teacher_

*****

Chloe woke up in Rachel's dorm room, finding the blonde thespian sleeping peacefully for once. “I love you, Rach” the blunette mumbled, kissing the blonde's forehead. She knew that the blonde didn't seem to feel the same way toward Chloe but Chloe had come to accept that. Unbeknownst to Chloe, Rachel had started to realize that she may well reciprocate the blunette’s feelings but was too scared to open up in the fear that it would ruin everything the two girls had between them. Rachel knew that Chloe was in love with her but had repeatedly rejected the blue’s advances and that was something that the thespian had come to regret since she lost a full six months without any trace. Six months without Chloe had taken its toll on her despite her not remembering those months. “Rach...” Chloe moved some of the blonde's hair out of her face but decided to let her sleep, of course that meant they'd both be missing at least some of their classes. Chloe pulled her phone out from under their pillow and set about sending a text

**[SMS: 07:29]** 'James, Rach is asleep'  
**[SMS: James Amber, 07:29]** 'Ok, Chloe. I'll call Blackwell and explain’

Chloe put her phone away and curled up next to Rachel, drifting off to sleep almost immediately. Rachel, and therefore Chloe rarely managed to get a full night's sleep, she frequently woke up at night and also had a nasty habit of kicking Chloe out of the bed in her panic-stricken state so on the rare occasion that Rachel didn't have a disturbed night, James intervened to make sure the girls weren't punished for sleeping in

*****

“FUCK!!” Chloe yelped and hissed out once her bony ass landed on the dorm room floor, she had been kicked out of bed by Rachel for something like the fiftieth time, not that she was keeping count. “ _Ow_ ”  
“Chloe? Oh Chlo I'm so sorry” Rachel peered over the edge of her bed with regret clearly apparent in her eyes  
“I'm okay, Rach,” Chloe replied shakily, she hadn't ever gotten used to the shock of slamming down onto the comparatively hard dorm room floor  
“You keep saying that, Chloe” Rachel looked down, shame filling her slowly, she had once again hurt Chloe  
“Cos I mean it” Chloe spoke without hesitation  
“Are you sure, Chlo?” Rachel peered up at her from behind her hair that wasn't tied up for once  
“You ask every single time” Chloe replied, in absolute certainty  
“Okay, Chlo. Wait what's the time?”  
“Uh... Half two” Chloe turned over without even getting off of the floor and slumped down perfectly happy to go back to sleep where she was  
“ _SHIT!!_ ”

**Author's Note:**

> Please leave kudos and comments!!:)


End file.
